Any beauty-lover will agree, incorporating a new product into your skincare routine is exciting. But, when you’re met with breakouts in place of that glowing, smooth skin you anticipated, that excitement goes out the window...fast. Before you toss that new product, know this: you could just be experiencing skin purging.

What Is Skin Purging?

Skin purging, or transient acne, is a period of adjustment that occurs due to the stimulating effect certain products have on the skin. The stimulation helps to promote the rate of surface cell turnover and deep pore cleansing, which helps bacteria that was already trapped under the skin’s surface to rise up, leading to a sudden breakout. Fact is, a pimple doesn’t just form overnight—even though it seems that way when a new one pops up on your face—that blemish was already in the works for some time.

What Causes Skin Purging?

Despite the timing, the acne you can experience during this period of adjustment may not be caused by your new product at all. In some cases, those breakouts may actually be a sign your new product is doing its job.

This is especially the case when the new product in question has deep cleansing abilities like our Clarisonic facial cleansing brushes or exfoliating properties like glycolic acid-based peels. These types of products can speed up the cell turnover process. So, if you were going to get a blemish at some point, it may make its debut earlier than it normally would have.

How to Deal With Skin Purging

The same stimulation that sped up the cycle of a pimple making its entrance can also help it make a quicker exit. Furthermore, these deep cleansing and exfoliating products can also help additional acne from forming and popping up in the future.

• Stick With It

If transient acne occurs after using a Clarisonic facial cleansing brush or an exfoliating product, don’t be so quick to go back to your old routine. Instead, give it time. With any new skincare practice, your skin sometimes can look worse before it can look its best. Try to give it at least two weeks before calling it quits.

• Be Gentle

Any time your skin is breaking out, whether skin purging or otherwise, it’s important to be gentle. If you’re using a Clarisonic facial cleansing brush and you are experiencing transient acne, try using less pressure when you’re cleansing—especially during this period of adjustment

• Plan Ahead

If you’re going to use a new product that is known to speed up surface cell turnover, plan ahead. Keep spot treatments on hand for any troublesome breakouts and know that the acne you’re experiencing is just temporary. Gorgeous, glowing skin is just on the horizon.